High coercivity longitudinal recording media and method for its preparation

ABSTRACT

A high coercivity longitudinal recording media comprising FePt or similar thin films that are vacuum deposited by RF and DC sputtering. The as-deposited multilayered films are subjected to vacuum annealing. Due to the formation of the ordered phases of FePt or the like, which have very high crystal anisotropy, the annealed FePt films have large coercivity and fine grain size, suitable for use as ultra-high density magnetic recording media.

SPECIFICATION CROSS REFERENCES

The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.08/558,272 filed Nov. 13, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,409, issued Oct.20, 1998.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to magnetic recording media andspecifically to high coercivity longitudinal recording media suitablefor ultra-high density magnetic recording.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Present high performance magnetic recording media typically have areadensities of 130 to 150 Mb/in² and coercivities (H_(c)) of 1400 to 1600Oe. Average grain sizes of these recording media, which are oftenCo-based, vary from 20-45 nm with larger grain size associated withhigher coercivity.

Recent developments in the art have produced magnetic recording mediawith areal densities of 1 to 2 Gb/in². For example, media consisting ofCoPtCr have been demonstrated with areal densities of between 0.96 and1.18 Gb/in². A 2 Gb/in² media consisting of two layers of differingalloy constitutions has also been developed. The bottom magnetic layerof this media is CoCrPtSi, a low noise, low coercivity film, whereas thetop layer is CoCrPt, a high coercivity, high noise film. When combined,the layers produce a recording media with low noise and high coercivity.These 1 to 2 Gb/in² media typically have coercivities of 1600 to 2120 Oeand average grain sizes of approximately 15 to 20 nm.

Because of the demand to store increasing amounts of information in apractical disk drive, the development of an ultra-high density magneticrecording media with an areal density in the range of 10 Gb/in² isdesirable. However, continued evolutionary improvements in present mediatechnologies will probably not be adequate to support the development ofsuch ultra-high density media. Present media technologies cannotsimultaneously provide the increasingly higher coercivities, thinnerfilms, smaller grains and lower media noise necessary. Thus, forultra-high density recording media to become a feasible technology, newmaterials must be developed that have coercivities in excess of 3000 Oewith extremely fine grain sizes.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide anultra-high density magnetic recording media with an areal density in therange of 10 Gb/in², high coercivity (H_(c) >3000 Oe), and extremely finegrain size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a high coercivity longitudinal recordingmedia with areal densities in the range of 10 Gb/in² and a method forits production. The media is suitable for ultra-high density magneticrecording. Multilayered thin films, consisting of Iron (Fe) and/orCobalt (Co) combined with Platinum (Pt) may be vacuum deposited by RF-and DC-sputtering. The as-deposited multilayered films are thensubjected to vacuum annealing. Due to the formation of the orderedphases of FePt, CoPt, or the like, which have very high crystalanisotropy, the annealed films have large coercivity and fine grainsize, suitable for ultra-high density magnetic recording. The films haveeasy magneto crystalline axes in the film plane, which is required forlongitudinal recording, and coercivity values up to 6,350 Oe.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a sputtering apparatus of thetype used to produce the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a chart depicting the small-angle x-ray diffraction of FePtfilm;

FIG. 3 is a chart depicting the large angle x-ray diffraction of FePtfilm;

FIG. 4 is a chart illustrating the hysteresis loops of (Fe20.2 Å/Pt17.3Å)₈ film annealed at 300° C. for 15 minutes;

FIG. 5 is a chart showing the dependence of saturation magnetization(M_(s)) and coercivity (H_(c)) on the annealing temperature (T_(a));

FIG. 6 is a chart illustrating the dependence of the coercivity (H_(c))on the film thickness (t);

FIG. 7 is a chart illustrating the hysteresis loop of (Fe20.2 Å/Pt17.3Å)₄ film annealed at 300° C. for 30 minutes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, FePt multilayers aredeposited on a substrate by RF and DC sputtering using a multiple-gunsputtering system (FIG. 1) with a microprocessor-controlled,water-cooled rotating substrate. While a system containing three guns isshown in FIG. 1, those skilled in the art will recognize that otherconfigurations of the sputtering system including apparatus containingmultiple guns and tables suitable for commercial production arepossible. Preferably, the base pressure of the system is maintained at2×10⁻⁷ Torr while the Argon (Ar) pressure during the sputtering ismaintained at 5×10⁻³ Torr. Iron (Fe) and Platinum (Pt) targets (10 and12), which consist of Iron and Platinum disks 2 inches in diameter and0.1 to 0.2 inches in thickness, are inserted into the DC and RFsputtering guns (14 and 16), respectively. Substrates 18 are mounted ona rotating table 20 which is controlled by computer through a steppingmotor 22. During sputtering, the table 20 is rotated alternatelystopping the substrates 24 over the DC and RF sputtering guns (14 and16). In this fashion, alternating layers of Iron and Platinum aredeposited on the substrates. The thickness of each layer of themultilayer is controlled by adjusting the time that the substrate isstationary above the corresponding target. The as-deposited multilayersare then subjected to vacuum annealing. After annealing the FePt filmshave coercivities (H_(c)) in excess of 3000 Oe with extremely fine grainsizes.

FIG. 2 shows the small-angle x-ray diffraction patterns of theas-deposited and the annealed FePt films. The first, second andthird-order superlattice peaks may be observed in the x-ray diffractionscan of the as-deposited film. After annealing of the as-depositedsample in a vacuum at 300° C. for 15 minutes, the first ordersuperlattice peak and traces of the second and the third order peaks maystill be observed. Thus, the FePt film retains a layered structure afterannealing.

The large-angle x-ray diffraction patterns of the as-deposited andannealed FePt films are shown in FIG. 3. The as-deposited film has adisordered fcc structure (y-Phase). It grows along the [111] directionand a well defined (111) peak appears at 2θ=39.5°. After annealing at300° C. for 15 minutes, the position of the (111) peak shifts slightlytoward higher angle, and several new diffraction peaks, belonging to thefct phase (CuAuI structure), appear. The shift of the (111) peak is dueto the smaller c-axis lattice parameter of the fct structure. The newpeaks are indexed as (001), (110), (002), (201) and (112) respectively,as shown in FIG. 3.

The structural transformation from fcc to fct results in the significantchange of the magnetic properties of the FePt film. According to thehysteresis loops of the as-deposited and annealed FePt films, themagnetic easy axis is found to lie in the film plane. The coercivitiesof the as-deposited films are small. After annealing, square loops andlarge coercivities were obtained. FIG. 4 shows the hysteresis loops ofthe 300° C. annealed FePt film with applied field both parallel andperpendicular to the film plane. An in-plane coercivity of 3200 Oe maybe obtained. A minor loop is obtained along the perpendicular directionsince the film was not saturated with the maximum 10,000 Oe appliedfield.

FIG. 5 illustrates the dependence of the in-plane coercivity (H_(c)) andsaturation magnetization (M_(s)) of the (Fe20.2 Å/Pt17.3 Å)₈ multilayeron the annealing temperature (T_(a)). When the annealing temperature(T_(a)) is below 300° C., no significant changes of the in-planecoercivity (H_(c)) and the saturation magnetization (M_(s)) areobserved. However, when the annealing temperature (T_(a)) is raised to300° C. and above, H_(c) increases sharply while M_(s) decreases. Thesechanges of H_(c) and M_(s) are caused by the fcc to fct structuraltransition. The decrease of the saturation magnetization (M_(s)) is dueto the change of the ferromagnetic order of the fcc-structure to theferromagnetic order of fct-structure which involves a decrease of themean atomic magnetic moment (μ). The structural transformation of thefcc phase (cubic) to the fct phase (tetragonal) results in a highcrystal magnetic anisotropy energy of up to 7×10⁷ erg/cm³. This highanisotropy energy results in a large coercivity (H_(c)). If theannealing temperature is raised to 400° C., an H_(c) as high as 7000 Oemay be observed. The transformation temperature of fcc to fct phase inthe present FePt multilayers is approximately 300° C. Due to this lowannealing temperature, small grain sizes of less than 15 nm may beobtained.

The coercivity also depends on the film thickness. FIG. 6 shows (Fe20.2Å/Pt17.3 Å)_(n) multilayers of different thicknesses that were annealedat 300° C. for 15 minutes. Large coercivities are found among the filmswith thickness between 300 and 600 Å. When the film thickness (t) isgreater than 600 Å, however, the coercivity (H_(c)) decreases sharplywith any further increase in film thickness (t). When the film thickness(t) is smaller than 300 Å, the coercivity (H_(c)) is also small. Forultra-high density recording media, large coercivity is required. Underthe annealing conditions described above, a film of 300 Å thickness isnecessary to obtain the coercivity of 3000 Oe. However, the M_(r) t ofsuch 300° C. annealed film is approximately 1.8 memu/cm². Larger H_(c)and smaller M_(r) t values may be obtained by increasing annealingtemperature and annealing time. FIG. 7 shows the hysteresis loop of a(Fe20.2 Å/Pt17.3 Å)₄ multilayer annealed at 300° C. for 30 minutes. Byannealing the FePt film for 30 minutes, a large coercivity (H_(c)) of3210 Oe may be obtained from a 150 Å thick film. In this fashion, asmaller M_(r) t of 0.9 that is more suitable for high density magneticrecording may be obtained.

From the foregoing discussion, those skilled in the art will recognizethat the coercivity of the FePt thin films may be adjusted by alteringthe annealing temperature, annealing time and film thickness. Othermaterials such as Cobalt (Co) or the like may be used in place of or incombination with Iron (Fe) and combined with Platinum (Pt) using thedescribed sputtering and annealing process to obtain materials withproperties suitable for use as ultra high density recording media.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for forming a longitudinal recordingmedia suitable for ultra-high density magnetic recording, comprising thesteps of:(a) alternately depositing thin film layers of the elementPlatinum (Pt) and elements of the group consisting of Iron (Fe) andCobalt (Co) on a substrate to form multilayers of said elements; and (b)annealing said multilayers on said substrate.
 2. The process of claim 1wherein said elements are deposited on said substrate by RF- andDC-sputtering using a multiple gun sputtering system.
 3. The process ofclaim 2 wherein the base pressure of the system is maintained at about2×10⁻⁷ Torr.
 4. The process of claim 2 wherein the Argon (Ar) pressureof the system is maintained at about 5×10⁻³ Torr.
 5. The process ofclaim 1 wherein said multilayers are annealed at a temperature of 300°C. to 400° C.
 6. The process of claim 5 wherein said multilayers areannealed for about 15 to 30 minutes.
 7. The process of claim 1, whereinthe longitudinal recording media has a coercivity (H_(c)) of 3000 Oe to6300 Oe.
 8. A process for forming a longitudinal recording mediasuitable for ultra-high density magnetic recording, comprising the stepsof:(a) alternately depositing thin film layers of Platinum (Pt) and anelement selected from the group consisting of Iron (Fe) and Cobalt (Co)on a substrate to form a magnetic recording layer; and (b) heat treatingthe substrate and magnetic recording layer.
 9. The process of claim 8,wherein the longitudinal recording media has a coercivity (H_(c)) of3000 Oe to 6300 Oe.
 10. The process of claim 8, wherein said heattreating step comprises annealing the substrate and magnetic recordinglayer.
 11. The process of claim 10, wherein annealing step comprisesvacuum annealing the substrate and magnetic recording layer at atemperature of 300° C. to 600° C.
 12. The process of claim 11, whereinthe annealing step comprises vacuum annealing the substrate and magneticrecording layer from about 0 minutes to about 30 minutes.
 13. Theprocess of claim 11, wherein the annealing step comprises vacuumannealing the substrate and magnetic recording layer from about 0minutes to about 15 minutes.
 14. The process of claim 11, wherein theannealing step comprises vacuum annealing the substrate and magneticrecording layer from about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes.
 15. Theprocess of claim 8, wherein said depositing step comprises depositingthe thin film layers by RF- and DC-sputtering.
 16. The process of claim15, wherein said depositing step further comprises maintaining the basepressure of the system at about 2×10⁷ Torr.
 17. The process of claim 15,wherein said depositing step further comprises maintaining the Argon(Ar) pressure of the system at about 5×10⁻³ Torr.
 18. A process forforming a longitudinal recording media having a coercivity (H_(c)) of3000 Oe to 6300 Oe, comprising the steps of alternately depositing thinfilm layers of Platinum (Pt) and an element selected from the groupconsisting of Iron (Fe) and Cobalt (Co) on a substrate to form amagnetic recording layer.
 19. The process of claim 18, furthercomprising the step of heat treating the substrate and magneticrecording layer.
 20. The process of claim 19, wherein said heat treatingstep comprises annealing the substrate and magnetic recording layer. 21.The process of claim 20, wherein annealing step comprises vacuumannealing the substrate and magnetic recording layer at a temperature of300° C. to 600° C.
 22. The process of claim 18, wherein said depositingstep comprises depositing the thin film layers by RF- and DC-sputtering.23. A process for forming a longitudinal recording media suitable forultra-high density magnetic recording, comprising the steps of:(a)alternately depositing thin film layers of Platinum (Pt) and Iron (Fe)on a substrate to form a magnetic recording layer; and (b) heat treatingthe substrate and magnetic recording layer.
 24. The process of claim 23,wherein the longitudinal recording media has a coercivity (H_(c)) of3000 Oe to 6300 Oe.
 25. The process of claim 23, wherein said heattreating step comprises annealing the substrate and magnetic recordinglayer.
 26. The process of claim 25, wherein annealing step comprisesvacuum annealing the substrate and magnetic recording layer at atemperature of 300° C. to 600° C.
 27. The process of claim 26, whereinthe annealing step comprises vacuum annealing the substrate and magneticrecording layer from about 0 minutes to about 30 minutes.
 28. Theprocess of claim 26, wherein the annealing step comprises vacuumannealing the substrate and magnetic recording layer from about 0minutes to about 15 minutes.
 29. The process of claim 26, wherein theannealing step comprises vacuum annealing the substrate and magneticrecording layer from about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes.
 30. Theprocess of claim 23, wherein said depositing step comprises depositingthe thin film layers by RF- and DC-sputtering.
 31. The process of claim30, wherein said depositing step further comprises maintaining the basepressure of the system at about 2×10⁻⁷ Torr.
 32. The process of claim30, wherein said depositing step further comprises maintaining the Argon(Ar) pressure of the system at about 5×10⁻³ Torr.